


Richard Needs An Ally

by KittyInATopHat



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: Erlich is nice and brings Jared coffee, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Richard is an anxious person, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-08 22:25:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4323114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyInATopHat/pseuds/KittyInATopHat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A direct continuation of the season 2 finale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Richard Needs An Ally

**Author's Note:**

> Things I need to stop doing: staying up until 2AM writing fanfiction.  
> Things I will not stop doing: staying up until 2AM writing fanfiction.  
> Boom. Enjoy.

“And they voted to remove me as CEO of my own company…I just got fired”. He feels himself beginning to tremble and his heart is starting to pound and he’s trying to process what he’s just said in his mind. 

He just got fired. 

He just got fucking fired. 

“And what about me?”. Almost everyone glares at Erlich, except for Jared. His eyes stay locked on Richard.

“There’s gotta be something we can do about this”, Jared says, maintaining a steady voice in an attempt to keep Richard calm. “In the morning we’ll call Laurie and--”. 

“Yeah and what will that do?”, Richard snaps, the reality of the situation beginning to set in. “God, I am so fucked”. 

“Well we could talk things over, try to negotiate a way to get our board seats back. We have options Richard, we just have to examine it from another angle”. 

"Maybe you do Jared, but fuck I don’t! What am I going to do, go back to being a forgotten, underpaid programmer, working 9-5 while the fuckface board of directors takes what I built from the ground up?!", he cries. His hands are balled into fists. "Fuck, I bet I couldn't even do that because everyone in the Palo Alto area knows I have beef with Gavin fucking Belson”. 

"But sitting around crying like a bitch isn't going to make you CEO of Pied Piper again", Erlich retorts. "So Richard, what are we gonna do about it?". Richard stops. His brain is scrambling and the tightness in his chest is almost too much to bare. He's too exposed and too vulnerable and everything is too much at once. 

“I...I just…”. Richard’s voice is shaking. “I think I need to be alone”. Without another word he walks swiftly into his room and slams the door behind him. Erlich sighs deeply and picks up one of his bongs. 

“We need to fix this”, he says to Jared before clicking the lighter he drew from his pocket and taking a hit. 

“I know”, said Jared quietly.

\-----------------------------------

Richard stayed in his room while the rest of the Pied Piper team dealt with the news in the best way they knew how: by drowning their issues in drinking, smoking and video games. 

Except for Jared, who sat outside of Richard's room all night, worried about what could be going on the other side of the door. He watched from a distance as the others drank and bickered. It was the exact situation they had been in a few weeks ago at Battlefield. 

He was awoken the next morning by Erlich, shaking him awake. He was slumped against the wall next to Richard's door. 

"Did Richard come out at all?", Jared asked as Erlich handed him a cup of coffee. He shook his head.

"And I hate to tell you, but I'm not going to break down a door in my own house to check on him", he replied. Jared felt his heart sink. 

"Guys, I'm starting to get worried", he said, sitting up slightly to look around the living room. Dinesh and Gilfoyle were sitting in front of their computers. There were still stray beer bottles scattered about on their desks from last night. “Do you think we should check on him?”

"Here's a novel idea, if you’re so concerned, why don't you go ask him if he's ok. You know, human communication", Gilfoyle says without turning from his computer screen. 

"Jared, you have to go in there and talk to Richard", Erlich says. 

"Do you really think that’d be a good idea?", Jared asks. 

"Well, anything I say to him will probably upset him more", he continued. "And crying people are like Dinesh and Gilfoyle's kryptonite". 

"It's true. The last time someone cried in front of me I went and hid in their bathroom for, like, 4 hours", said Dinesh. 

"And the dark lord is more about revenge than tears”, Gilfoyle adds. 

“So Jared”, says Erlich. “It looks like you’ve gotta be Richard’s knight in shining armor”.

\-----------------------------------

Jared washes his face and brushes his teeth and mentally prepares himself by reciting positive mantras. He needs to be strong for Richard. Jared can’t let him find out that he’s just as terrified of losing Pied Piper as Richard is. In a world full of people out to take everything away from him, Richard Hendricks needed an ally. And Jared was absolutely prepared to be that ally. 

He grabs a glass of ice water for Richard before heading to his room. He takes a deep breath, raises his fist and gently knocks. 

“Richard?”, he says. “Is it ok if I come in?”. 

No response. Jared’s confidence wavers slightly. 

“Richard, I’m coming in”, he says. “And if you want me to leave immediately, I will, I just…I need to make sure you’re ok”. Jared takes another deep breath, turns the door knob, and walks into the room. His room is dim, the blinds drawn shut, but Jared can see a figure curled up under his bed covers. 

“Am I allowed to come up?”, Jared asks. 

“Yeah”, Richard responses. Jared climbs up to his loft. 

“Hey”, Richard says quietly, as Jared comes into his view. 

“Hi”, Jared smiles back. It’s obvious that Richard has been crying, his cheeks are tear stained and his eyes are puffy. His hair is more unruly than usual. Jared resists the almost overwhelming urge he has to pull Richard into his arms. “I brought you some water”. Richard sits up to take the glass from him. 

“Thank you”, he says before taking a sip. “I’m sorry about this”. 

“You have nothing to apologize for Richard, you didn’t do anything”, Jared says. 

“Except I do. You left your job at Hooli to pursue Pied Piper. And I let it slip away from me”. His voice is starting to crack, his eyes are welling up. Jared takes the water glass out of his hand as he begins trembling again and sets it aside. “You...you put your faith in me and I let you down”. 

“You couldn’t have known they were going to do this”. 

“I should have”, he says. “I knew I couldn’t do this, I knew this wasn’t going to work out. I...I can’t do anything”. Tears are streaming down his face. 

“That’s not true”, Jared says. “Richard, no, please don’t say that”. Richard puts his face in his hands as he begins to sob. 

"Fuck I'm so...so _absolutely useless_ to the team. Completely worthless. I was never meant to be a leader and I bring everyone around me down", he cries. “I'm sorry Jared. I'm so sorry”. Richard lowers his head and snakes his hands in his hair, gripping it tightly as sobs wrack his body. He looks so defeated and Jared's heart breaks as he watches him cry. He can't bear to hear Richard talk about himself in such a negative way. He just wants to make everything okay. 

“Richard, listen to me. Watching you work these past few months has been one of the most interesting experiences of my life. You have the most beautiful, talented mind of anyone I’ve ever met”. Jared places his hands over Richard’s and gently brings them down to his lap. “And no one can change my mind. Gavin Belson should be terrified of you because you’re brilliant”. Richard’s sobs have gradually ceased and he looks up at Jared. Their eyes lock. 

“I don’t want you to doubt yourself. You don’t deserve to doubt yourself and you’ve worked too hard to doubt yourself”, Jared continues, suddenly aware that his hands are still closed around Richard’s and that, _wow_ , their faces are a lot closer than he thought. “But if you’re going to doubt yourself than I’m going to be here to believe in you”. 

“You shouldn’t be”, Richard whispers. 

“But I am”, he says. “I refuse to give up on Pied Piper and I refuse to give up on you”. They pause for a few moments, letting the weight of Jared’s words settle in their minds. 

“Jared?”.

“Yes, Richard?”.

“Can I do something weird?”. Jared nods slightly. Richard closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and closes the gap between his and Jared’s lips. 

The kiss they share is short and soft and ended too abruptly as Richard pulls away from him. 

“I’m...I’m sorry I was just feeling...bold, I guess”, Richard studders. “We don’t have to do it again...if you don’t want to”. Jared pauses for a few moments. 

“No, I think...I think I definitely want to”, Jared replies. He cups Richard’s face in his hands and pulls him back into a kiss. 

Both of them knew this was going to change everything. As if the whole dynamic of the company wasn’t already messed up because of Richard’s termination, now him and his personal assistant were making out in his bed. Richard was still out of a job, his company has been pulled away from him and, frankly, he still kind of felt like a failure. But Richard’s future was no longer as anxiety filled as it had been twelve hours ago because now he knew that Jared was going to be there with him. 

And any future with Jared was a future that Richard absolutely wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, have a nice day! (:


End file.
